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Deconstructing: Nevada's 'Pistol,' by any other name, would fire as sweet

By Chris Brown

Xs and Os from the proprietor of the essential Smart Football. Part of the Doc's Mid-Major Week. Since the dawn of the spread in major college football, we've seen a rise in two related phenomena: New and fairly innovative "spread" schemes (a good thing), and nicknames for those schemes (less so). In the '90s we had Nebraska's "Black Shirts" and the Arizona "Desert Swarm," while now we are treated to slightly less euphonic choices, like Texas Tech's "Airraid," the various "spread 'n shreds" of Rich Rodriguez, and now, the uninspiring "pistol" at Nevada. But since Nevada coach and pistol brainchild Chris Ault made the switch from his old I-formation attack in 2005, the results have sounded pretty sweet. His team immediately improved by 30 yards and almost five points per game from 2004 (449.3 from 418.8 and 34.2 from 29.7, respectively), and improved its record from 5-7 to 9-3. The Pack have been to four straight bowl games for the first time in school history, and 2008 was the offense's best year yet since Ault returned from retirement in '04: Nevada was fifth in the nation in total offense and twelfth in scoring, and, by most definitions, they did it with incredible balance, as one of only three D-1 teams to both rush and pass for over 3,000 yards. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the WAC offensive player of the year with more yards rushing and passing than Tim Tebow. Pistol offense or pistol formation? Yet, unlike other noms d'offense, it's not entirely clear what the "pistol" is -- is it an entire offensive system, or just a formation? The term, being a play on the ubiquitous term "shotgun," refers in one sense simply to the set Nevada uses. Most shotgun offenses put their quarterback at five yards deep (some six, and Missouri puts theirs as deep as seven or eight) and the running back at five to six yards, aligned next to the quarterback. Nevada, by contrast, puts their quarterback only four yards back while the running back aligns directly behind him, between seven to ten yards deep depending on the play. But "offenses" are not the same as formations; a good offense involves a sensible grouping of plays and formations into a coherent whole. And while the pistol may have been conceived as simply a unique formation, the system Ault and Co. have developed has earned the name "pistol offense" by bringing a unique perspective to both the pistol and the spread. When the offense is rolling (which it is most of the time these days), the

like the zone read and other gadgets. aligning as he does behind the quarterback. Nevada's version of the veer. Among these are that the runningback. but really is just one part of that concept.that is the man the quarterback will "read. and the offense can get both good downhill running and play-action off those looks.pistol gives a team the best of both worlds: It has at its disposal all the Urban Meyer/Rich Rodriguez spread offense stuff. you can see why the pistol set is so good for the necessary footwork. as compared with both a shotgun set with a runningback aligned to the side or under center -. from the diagram and video. Just shoot me. Let's take a quick look at some specifics. As I
." The reason the veer works so well. but what really makes Nevada different is its emphasis on old school plays in the context of its new school offense.) The veer is simple and yet quite deadly. including when compared to the zone read. is that with the veer guarantees two things the zone read can't: Double-team blocks at the point of attack. If he "stays home" for the quarterback. requires the line to "block down" to the side the run is going while leaving some normally very dangerous defender entirely unblocked -. and why being in the pistol makes the read on the play so easy for the quarterback. (With the zone read you're just trying to control a backside pursuit defender. and why that lets Nevada's other blockers completely cave in the rest of the defense. and the ability to make the man the QB reads wrong. 94). every time.but the play that's really made Nevada's offense go the last two years is one Ault added to take advantage of quarterback Colin Kaepernick's running ability: the veer.the now-ubiquitous shotgun play that came into vogue at Northwestern under Randy Walker in the late nineties and made Rich Rodriguez a rising star at West Virginia -. And. tips no hand to the defense on the direction of the play. That's how Nevada puts its spin on the spread offense stuff. The Wolfpack. like most other teams. a variety now coming into vogue again with spread teams like Florida. forcing a handoff. as well as the advantages of a "traditional" I-formation or pro-style single-back attack. rely heavily on the inside zone and zone read plays -. there is no guarantee the line will get double teams to the other side or that the back will find a hole. since they don't have to worry about him: Old school with a new school twist. That term has traditionally referred to a specific type of triple-option some coaches use.watch just how wrong Kaepernick is able to make the unblocked man (No.

When the pistol works. (There's a reason play-action master Peyton Manning has always done his best faking from under center. though. What has made Nevada dynamic offense go has been Ault and his staff's ability to teach these schemes and to adjust week-to-week. He's more than happy to follow up the zone read. it's something they have developed to stay ahead of the game. jet sweep or veer with some basic offtackle runs. which he can do easily because his tailback is in the same place he would be in the I: And what doubly makes the set work is that Ault can dial-up rather traditional quarterback faking for bootlegs and play-action. The larger question. and you can still see it in his philosophy. Only because an offensive mind like Ault could coach it.) As the clips below show. Without getting all Bill Callahan in a restricted space. both old and new school.but not because the "pistol" is magical.can this stuff work outside of the WAC? I would say so -. Ultimately. Nevada head coach Chris Ault was an I-formation guy for a long time. it's the best of both worlds for Nevada: Both Iformation and spread.
. versatile guy like Kaepernick can really emphasize the play-action to put the defense in a bind. which spread teams have usually struggled with making convincing.mentioned above. Nevada actually has one of the most diverse playbooks in terms of the number of different blocking schemes. however.that's not exactly a novel proposition. there's only so much magic in simply putting your running back behind your quarterback -. an athletic. is why no one else runs it except as an occasional novelty -.